José Romero y Fernández de Landa
| José Romero y Fernández de Landa | |
|---|---|
 |
|
| Born |
27 May 1735 Huelva |
| Died | 5 August 1807 (aged 72) Madrid |
| Other work | Naval engineer |
José Romero y Fernández de Landa (27 May 1735 in Huelva – 5 August 1807 in Madrid) was a Spanish naval and army officer and the Spanish Navy's first official naval engineer and ship designer. He designed several two and three deck ships of the line in the late 18th and early 19th centuries which fought at the Battle of Cape St Vincent and the Battle of Trafalgar. He is also notable as the writer of Reglamento de maderas necesarias para la fábrica de los baxeles del Rey (Rules for the wood necessary for building the King's ships).
On 27 May 1752 he joined the Regimiento de Dragones de Edimburgo at Villa de Arcos, commanding a company, but he moved to the navy in 1754. He rose 'alférez de fragata' (ensign) and commanded the 5th Company of the 2nd Battalion of Marines at Ferrol.
On 1 November 1765 he started working at the shipyard at Guarnizo, under the designer Francisco Gautier. In October 1770, on the creation of the Cuerpo de Ingenieros de Marina, he was one of its few officials from the Cuerpo de Oficiales de Guerra to join the new body. He was 'capitán de fragata', Commandant of the Engineers and Engineer General, rising to Engineer General of the Fleet on 28 January 1786.
The three 64-gun ships designed by Landa were an extension of his 74-gun designs, changing its main dimensions on a scale of α=49,5/52
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